ON THE ROCKS

Posted on 02/13/2016

The Azamara Quest, which is due for a US $25 ($35.5) million upgrade in April, has suffered damage to the hull in an incident now under investigation. There are reports that the ship came into contact with Wheki Rock in the Marlborough Sounds (the north end of the south island of New Zealand) and it may take up to 18 months for the results of the investigation to be announced.

The ship, which was carrying 652 passengers and 394 crew members at the time, reportedly passed "closer than expected" to the side of the Tory Channel. Those were the comments in a statement from Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. There are in fact two investigations, one by Maritime New Zealand who have stated that police divers found paint on the side of the rocks, and damage to the hull of the ship. The second investigation is by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) where a spokesperson said two staff members boarded the ship when it arrived in Napier to collect evidence. The ship continued on its itinerary but the captain was temporarily suspended until more information is known about the incident.